South Lebanon conflict

The South Lebanon conflict occurred from 16 February 1985 to 25 May 2000 when Israeli-backed Maronite Christian militias and Hezbollah-led Muslim militias battled for control of South Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War. The war resulted in the collapse and surrender of the SLA and the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, and it boosted Hezbollah's reputation as a Lebanese resistance movement.

Background
In 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon with the goal of destroying the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization, which had moved its base from the refugee camps of South Lebanon to the Muslim section of the Lebanese capital of Beirut. In August 1982, Israel succeeded in forcing the PLO to leave Lebanon and relocate to Tunisia, and the Israelis created a security zone in South Lebanon which was occupied by Israeli IDF soldiers and allied Maronite Christian militas from the Lebanese Front and the South Lebanon Army. Meanwhile, Iran-backed Islamist militia groups began an insurgency against both the IDF and the United Nations peacekeeping forces, carrying out the 1983 United States embassy bombing, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, and the Tyre headquarters bombings. In 1985, the IDF and their SLA allies withdrew to the South Lebanon security zone, ending the First Lebanon War. However, several local Shia Muslim movements such as Hezbollah and the Amal Movement began an insurgency against Israel and the SLA in South Lebanon, beginning the South Lebanon conflict.

War
In August 1985, the Amal Movement ambushed an Israeli convoy, killing two IDF soldiers while losing three fighters; this was the first major clash during the South Lebanon conflict. Led by Hezbollah, the Islamist militants began a campaign of hit-and-run guerrilla attacks, suicide bombings, and rocket attacks on northern Israel, resulting in both military and civilian casualties. In 1987, Hezbollah fighters stormed the SLA outpost at Bra'shit and killed or captured many of its defenders before raising its flag atop the outpost; a captured M113 APC was triumphantly driven into Beirut by its captors. In May 1988, the Israelis launched Operation Law and Order, in which 2,000 IDF troops raided the village of Maidun and killed 50 Hezbollah fighters. The Israelis then destroyed the Hezbollah headquarters in Marrakeh, and, on 28 July 1989, the IDF captured Hezbollah leader Abdul Karim Obeid. The 1989 Ta'if Accord formally ended the Lebanese Civil War, and the fighting in South Lebanon mostly ceased in 1991, although sporadic armed conflict continued for several years. On 16 February 1992, Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musawi, his wife, son, and four others were killed in an Israeli helicopter attack on his motorcade. In July 1993, the Israelis began Operation Accountability to retaliate after a month of Hezbollah shelling of Israeli towns, and 50 Hezbollah fighters, 2 Israeli soldiers, and 118 Lebanese civilians were killed. In May 1994, Israel captured the Amal leader Mustafa Dirani, and, in June, 45 Hezbollah cadets were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their training camp. In the 1996 Operation Grapes of Wrath, 150 civilians and refugees were killed when a UN base at Qana was accidentally shelled by the Israelis. The fighting continued for four more years, and, in 1999, the new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced his plan to have Israeli occupation forces withdraw from South Lebanon by 2000. In January 2000, SLA leader Aql Hashem was assassinated by Hezbollah. During the spring, Hezbollah stepped up its insurgency, and the Israeli pullout resulted in the collapse of the SLA as Hezbollah forces rapidly advanced into South Lebanon. Thousands of Shi'ite refugees returned to claim their property, and Hezbollah claimed victory against the Israeli occupiers, boosting its reputation as a Lebanese resistance movement.

Aftermath
Israeli forces continued to occupy the Shebaa Farms on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border, and Hezbollah continued to launch terrorist attacks against Israel for years. This resulted in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, with Israel launching another punitive invasion of Lebanon to punish Hezbollah.